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I served in Vietnam from May 6, 1970, to May 6, 1971. I was not out in the boonies getting shot at on a daily basis but it was still a remarkable year. I flew home out of DaNang to Norton AFB and then took a regular cab from the AFB to Ontario Airport to catch my flight home to Cedar Rapids, IA.
On that flight, there were the first "people from home" that I had seen in 365 days. My feelings included a strong desire to wander the aisle telling everyone about my remarkable year. I resisted that impulse lest I be labeled as the "psycho in 12C."
But, in looking around at my fellow passengers I soon realized something. While I had just spent a remarkable year, everyone else had just spend an ordinary year. They gave no thought to anyone and anything about a war that was 10,000 miles away both in distance and in mind.
I heard stories of GIs saying they were "spat upon" when they returned. I suspect that those stories are hyperbole. The spitting never really occured but the recitation of the story represented a very real expression of how the storytellers felt.
I don't blame anyone for the reception. It was a natural result of when there is a "guns and butter" economy. While some few go to fight, there is no sacrifice required by anyone else. As a result, few beyond those doing the fighting have concern for those few who fought.
I suspect that the people doing our fighting in Iraq will seem fine as long as they are in the military society over there on on the military flight home. But the moment they get on the commercial flight, each will start to realize the futility of what they have been doing. And, that is the precise moment when PTSS starts to affect their lives. And it continues to affect each of them for all of the rest of their lives.
No president should have a "guns and butter" policy. It just isn't right that if there is a war only some of us bear the burden. If we go to war, then, in some way, we ALL should go to war.
